How to Leverage Innovation to Create Breakthrough Growth
Nina Thomas
Founder | Harmonic Advisory | Strategies for growth, market engagement, communications and strategic relationships
We've been deep in the trenches with some clients lately as we work to bring their growth strategies to life by looking at the best pathways to leverage their innovations in the market.
It's so much fun it doesn't feel like work.
The growth opportunities are game changing so it got me thinking you might like to see how this is happening and how you can do this in your business as well.
You can message me directly for a copy of our innovation GTM blueprint, but first let's look at some of the steps.
Pretty much every business has a growth strategy - it may be a comprehensive strategy, a few lines on a page or it may not even be written down, but it will generally exist in some form.
It might also be a survival strategy, but there's only so much cost cutting and BAU you can do before everything grinds to a halt. And then you're stuck on the back foot.
Keep innovating and creating pathways to commercialise those innovations to propel growth in new and existing markets.
The problem is it can be quite hard to figure out how to go from strategy to implementation and what steps to take.
This gets particularly tricky when you have brand new products or services and need certain skills to commercialise them.
So how can you get started?
1. Make it simpler and be a bit ugly
One of the common traps of innovation is over complicating things or trying to make them perfect before going to market.
Innovation needs a test and iterate mindset. This means developing a minimum viable product (MVP) and getting it out in the market fast so you can get feedback and then improve it.
2. Bring in the right people at the right time to deliver the right outcomes
Use the two best things you have at your fingertips - your team and your network.
Hint: the images below will give you some clues.
One of our recent Strategy Discovery working groups consisted of COO, Head of Growth, CEO, Head of Product and Marketing, with me facilitating.
In 2 hours we had:
They weren't perfect but they don't need to be at this stage, they just need to be created and have a list of next steps to action.
3. Don't forget your sunscreen
Sadly, you can't trust everyone you work with. so you will need to protect your new product or service or you risk getting burned.
This means protecting your IP and making sure you’re not giving away your trade secrets.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Engage legal first (and fast).
4. Schedule a launch – everyone LOVES a launch
When I look back over all of the market engagement projects I’ve done for both my business and our clients over 25+ years, launches have been hands down the most successful at generating growth.
This is because people love shiny new things. ChatGPT anyone?
Once you schedule a launch, it's easy to work backwards and prepare.
Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect and you can co-create with your customers to get the best market fit.
Here's a little secret you may not know...
You can have a launch every 6 weeks and you can even relaunch “new improved” versions.
Think ChatGPT3.5, ChatGPT4, ChatGPT5...
The advantage of this is it gives you a platform you test and iterate, and a reason to tell people you heard their feedback, what you’ve improved and why they need and want it.
An interesting comment was made at the Mining Club lunch last week...
"People might need mining, but at the moment they don't want it."
You don't want this happening for your business, you need to showcase why people both need and want what you're offering.
A little easier said than done...
So think about this -
Easy market engagement comes when you have something to say that is relevant to your target market and you say it often enough to create demand.
5. Test and iterate. Rinse and repeat.
This process helps the leaders who are 'chomping at the bit' to get their big ideas out in the market and gives everyone else a great way to add value and contribute to the growth of their business.
Win. Win. 😁
How would it feel to have this process and support at your fingertips?
If you're ready to explore whether our Strategic Discovery Workshop could be your next move, message me with 'YES'.
If you’d like to see how it works, comment or DM me with 'BLUEPRINT' and I'll send you my Innovation GTM Blueprint.
It really is a great time to be bringing your growth strategy to life.
Nina
PPS. My eBook has a bunch of strategies for engaging new markets. Download it here - Strategies for Growth in Uncertain Markets